


Being Free

by alafaye



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-28
Updated: 2014-06-28
Packaged: 2018-02-06 15:33:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1863060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alafaye/pseuds/alafaye
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reflections and remembering and moving on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Being Free

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Round 2 of cottoncandy_bingo and the prompt 'free'. My card is [here](http://alafaye.dreamwidth.org/168471.html).

Draco stood at the back of the crowd and sneered. Politicians and officials each had said something, but none of them had been there. He knew their careers, knew that some of them had served the man they now condemned. Numerous candles and wands were lit in the darkened room, holding vigil in memory of those who died. Their flickering lights reflected off the etched obsidian wall that listed the dead.

Harry shifted next to him, as uncomfortable with it as Draco was. They'd had words over it ever since the announcement had appeared in the _Daily Prophet_. It wasn't anything against the ceremony, the acknowledgement of the dead, but it was the opportunity those giving speeches had taken. Harry had spoken on his and Draco's behalf, spoken out against it. They came, of course they had, but only toward the end of the speeches.

Behind them were other witches and wizards who had felt the same.

The last speech was over and the last spectacle, a spell to lit the names, was cast. It was beautiful. Harry sighed. "Let's go."

Draco took his arm--his magic still bound as part of his sentencing--and closed his eyes. He raised his eyebrows when they arrived. "Dinner? I thought we were going to the Burrow for the gathering?"

Harry took Draco's hand in his own. "I knew you didn't really want to go, that you preferred something quieter on the anniversary."

Draco studied the sign outside the restaurant. He did, that was true. The crowded atmosphere of the Burrow, the noise--it was overwhelming. And today? Today was the day that Draco's home had been freed from the Dark Lord. The day that Draco's arm had been cleared of the damn tattoo. He absently rubbed his forearm where it had been. It was true, he did prefer the quiet, but if there was one thing he had learned from the war, it was that strength and happiness lay in the gathering of the people you loved and trust, as they did you.

"We should be with them, though," Draco said eventually. "Even for an hour."

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

Draco smiled. "Yeah. Only for a bit, though. You know how I don't like crowds."

Harry kissed his cheek. "An hour, then. And then we'll go home and enjoy the freedom, yes?"

"Yes," Draco agreed. 

~~~

Later, Harry rubbed Draco's markless arm. Draco was frowning, wondering what Harry was looking at or for.

"I didn't think it would go," Harry whispered. Draco hummed. Harry cleared his throat. "It's just...it's like when you spell an item. You give a bit your magic to it."

Draco pulled his arm out of Harry's grasp and rolled them so they faced each other. "I don't like thinking about it. It's gone and in the past. What does it matter? I'm free, Harry. We're all free. Just like the memorial where there is no difference between who was on which side, that the tattoo is gone means a clean slate for us all."

"Free," Harry muttered, absently rubbing his forehead where his scar had been.

Draco kissed the spot. "All of us."

Harry smiled.


End file.
